The Penn's Grove record., 1887-05-07

'sYou are a very brazen-faced wO-
man, said 1 carefully keeping between
her and the door. For if she would get
away and pawn the things Maria had
taken there would be a terrible eXplo-
sion.
"Well," said Mrs. Dark with an
irritating p%retense at resignation, Il
suppose hard names are all in the days
work. What wagesa are you going to give
me for this job of looking after your
wife?''
1 WINGED at this.
'tHand over the property you have
~stolenl" l angrily exclaimed. "You
can't escape, for the door is guarded"
'That is all right. But stolen!" The
abandoned woman was actually winking
at mt. "That's a hard word, too. How
many kleptomaniacs have you got
| stored about the house?n
give including yourself"
"They'll carry off every stick of fur
niture if you don't watch them" said
Mrs. Dark laughing. The very idea of
putting them in separate rooms! It's
lust like a man. Shall L help you to
make the others fork out? Set a thief to
catch a thief, you know"
L jumped eagerly at the suggestion,
! happening to come to terms with Mrs.
Dark after the rest of my tormentors
had been got rid of. She undertook the
management, and, L must admit, went
about her work in a very busineSs-like
way. In a wonderfully short space Of
time the six of us were collected in the
drawing-room, all sitting down except
Mrs. Heslop, who preferred standing.
l suppose she was vexed at having been
left in the hall, but the real reason came
out presently.
"It's no reason trying to soap it over y
began Mrs. Dark, looking round the
| circle; sswe're all kleptomaniacs. It's
not our fault, of course, for We did not
make ourselves, so there's no harm in
| owning to it. And what we are is one
thing, and what people think of us is
another. How is this gentleman here
to know I'm not q humbug? He adver-
tised for a kleptomaniac, and he wants
the real genuine article, | take it. But
how is he to know he has got his
moneys worth unless he tests us. An
incapable kleptomaniac would be just as
badas a vulgar thief. So what | pro-
pose is that the five of us should empty
our pockets, chignons, and such like
places of resort for missing articles,
for,n said Mrs. Dark, smiling compla-
Gently at the other four, 'I'll lay a tan
ner to a brass farthing, ladies, you've
not been idle"
Though the terms of this proposal
were considered Objectionable, it was
eventually agreed to, Mrs. Heslop
strongly protesting on the ground that
she had no opportunity of showing her
powers. However, l told her that unless
she took part in the competition she
would have no chance of being appoint
ed to the post, as she had no valuable
prize to set off against the salary, she
recognized the expedlency of yielding.
Mrs. Heslop was the first who was
called upon to exhibit what she had got.
And here a little difficulty arose which
explained her objection to sitting down.
1t turned out that she had improved
herself-that, | believe, is the correct
expression-with my gong, and accom-
panied by Mrs. Dark, she had to retire
in order to produce it. A small picture
and several pairs of gloves completed
her spoils. She was very wroth with
James, who she declared had grossly
insulted her by stationing himself in
the hall to watch her, just as if she
were a common thief.
She had scarcely finished speaking
when the door opened and, to my hor-
ror, Maria walked in. What she
thought of me, sitting there with these
five women, L cannot ever conjecture.
For reasons which will be rendered OBJ
vious the subject has never been dis
cussed between us. She looked as if,
| by some mistake, she entered the wrong
house.
81 see O are engaged" she said at
length, and was about to withdraw.
was much too confused to speak or
move. But Mrs. Dark begged her to
remain and she did remain. She sat
down close to me, and watched and lis
tened like one in a dream. l learned
afterwards that Uncle Joe had had an
attack of govt; hence Maria's return at
an Unexpectedly early hour.
There is no need to describe in detail
the process of disgorging. Miss Mildew
| produced my ivory paper-knife, a num-
Der of stamps, several packets of post
cards and two books; Mrs. Stone very
nearly the whole contents of the plate
basket, and Miss White many objects of
bric-a-brac, and-without a blush on
her mournful face-my gold vasel All
the things were laid on a table which |
had cleared for that purpose and set in
the center of the cirle. AS she gazed at
her superior pile Miss White put away
her handkerchief and smiled, while the
other three looked as if they could have
eaten her.
"And now it's my %turn," said Mrs.
Dark pleasantly.
With which she emptied a huge
pocket Unto lher lap, and there came
tumbling out all the jewelry which |
had previously seen. Among it l
noticed for the first time Mrs. Arbuth-
not's bracelet. In my dismay | could
help stealing a glance at Maria, but,
except for a look of wonderment, her
beautiful face was as calm as if the
whole transaction had no interest for
her.
81 think you will admit, ladies'
said Mrs. Dark, with satisfaction, shat
I've licked the lot of YOU"
There were arguments, of course;
there were many reasons given for set
ting aside the verdict. And when logic
failed, abuse was poured out without
stint. The four defeated ladies declared
themselves to be the victims of an infa-
nous conspiracy originated by Mrs.
| Dark. But in the end we escorted them
to the door and they departed, Miss
White weeping copiously. Looking
back at their conduct-which l can do
calmly now-I must say that my own
feeling for them is II of pity. / am
morally certain that they had no more
sense Of wrong-doing than poor Maria
has.
When they were gone l interyied
Mrs. Dark alone, for her behavior had
raised certain suspicious in my mind.
''May l ask your object?" l inquired
of her.
II have been put up to the job by the
police"
II thought SOD
s'Here,n said'she, bringing out the
paper which l had already seen in her
hand, sis a list of the missing things,
the last of the lot being a bracelet be-
longing to Mrs. ArbuthLot. And here
POINTING to the jewelry" are the
missing things themselves. / call that